An Alternate Beginning
by Sri1996
Summary: What if something different happened on that fateful Halloween night of 1981? Summary is terrible but please give the story a chance! Jily/Sirius/Remus/Harry/Weasleys/Hermione
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All the characters belong to JK Rowling. This is a non-profitable work.**

 **-Chapter 1-**

James Potter was entertaining baby Harry by producing different coloured bubbles from his wand.

Lily Potter came into the sitting room from the kitchen, "Time for sleep, Harry!"

She picked up the small black haired boy who immediately grasped for her striking red hair and began to pull on it.

"Oh, c'mon, Lily. It's Halloween, let the kid enjoy a bit!"

"I think he enjoyed quite enough for tonight."

They heard a soft creak as someone opened the gate and James' eyes grew wide with understanding, "It's him! Lily, take Harry and go! Go, I'll try and stop him. Go!"

"James!"

"Go!"

Lily ran up the stairs with harry just as the front door burst open.

A hooded man stood at the door with his wand pointed at James, who had left his wand on the sofa.

Noticing this, the man let out a low, cold laugh.

"Avada kadevra!"

A green light burst from the intruder's wand and James jumped towards the right. The spell hit the wall and caused it to collapse.

James was trapped in the rubble.

Lily heard the crashes downstairs and hugged Harry closer.

She placed the baby in his crib and bent over him.

"Harry,be brave, Harry, be safe.

Mama loves you, Dada loves you.

Harry be brave, be safe."

She turned around just as the door burst open.

"Stand aside!" He said in a cold voice.

"Please, have mercy. Have mercy! Take me! Take me, instead. Please, not Harry!"

"Stand aside, silly girl!"

Lily couldn't let him kill Harry, not her little boy, 'He can't, he won't' she thought as she stood defiantly in front of Lord Voldemort, ready for the spell to hit her.

"Avada kadevra!"

James flung himself onto the dark Lord just as he said the incantation.

The spell hurtled past Lily and hit Harry.

"Harry!"

The house collapsed as the spell backfired and hit Voldemort.

James and Lily fell unconscious and the most feared dark wizard of all time, fled from the house, weak and dying.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** all the ships and main story line will mostly follow canon..

I'll try updating at least every five days..and thank you so much for the review, HowlingBlack: I'm glad you're intrigued!

 **-CHAPTER 2-**

Sirius placed his motorbike at the fence with shaking hands.

He looked up at the dilapidated house. Every horrid thought crossed his mind.

The once beautiful house stood gloomy and destroyed in the dark sky.

He pushed the gate open and headed to the front door.

His legs began shaking as he noticed that the front door was thrown open, barely hanging from its hinges.

He slowly made his way into the hallway. He looked around clutching his chest as he let out shallow breathes.

He tenderly pushed aside the pieces of wall that fell on the stairs and made his way into his godson's room.

'Please be alive, please be 'alive' he chanted in his head.

He slowly looked into the room and sighed in relief as he saw the child sitting up with silent tears running down his face.

Sirius went over and picked Harry up and gently cradled him, "ssh, Harry. It's okay, I've got you. Everything is going to be alright."

Tears escaped Sirius as he looked around the room and saw Lily and James lying on the floor.

He bent down near Lily and gingerly pushed her hair aside. He felt a warm breath on his fingers and he quickly placed Harry beside his mother and ran towards his best friend.

He turned James around and began laughing in relief when he was able to find a pulse.

He pulled out his wand, "Ennervate," he said shakily.

James stirred and Sirius turned his wand on Lily, repeating the incantation.

Harry began clapping happily as he saw his parents slowly wake up.

"Mama!"he said as he clambered onto Lily's lap, slightly pulling on her curls.

Lily groaned softly and placed one hand on her head and another around Harry. "My head," she said softly.

She looked up and saw James and Sirius.

"James!" She cried as she got up and sprinted to her husband.

"I thought you- I thought he had killed-" she spluttered as she flung herself onto him.

Harry let out a shout of glee as he was pressed up against his parents.

Sirius threw himself at the three of them and began crying.

He suddenly moved away and wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

He turned to leave.

"Sirius?" James called, "where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," he said as he left.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you so mucb, HowlingBlack for the reviews! I'll try posting as frequently as possible and just a fair warning: this is going to be a very long story!

 **CHAPTER THREE**

"We can't stay here," James said looking around at the collapsed house.

Lily nodded.

"What do you think happened?" She asked holding Harry closer.

James shook his head, "I don't know-"

They heard a crash from downstairs and James moved to shield the nursery door.

They were waiting with baited breathes for the deatheaters, who were no doubt heading up the stairs, to attack.

A huge strangled sob was heard and Lily let out her breath, "Hagrid!" She said to James who went to open the door.

"Hagrid!" James exclaimed as he saw the half giant standing near the bottom of the stairs.

"James!" He cried looking relieved.

Lily and James made their way downstairs, Lily clutching Harry safely, who was drifting off to sleep.

"Everyone tho' 'at ya were gone! A-and you-know-who-"

"Voldemort is gone," James said.

Lily began to laugh.

"But tha' means the war-"

"Is over!" She said happily.

Harry stirred and grinned at his mother who was literally jumping with joy.

Hagrid joined their little celebration, too, and suddenly remembered why he was sent to Godric's Hallow in the first place.

"Dumbledore! Oh- how happy he'll be!"

James and Lily looked over at Hagrid,

"What?" James asked.

"He thinks you're gone, as well" Hagrid explained.

"Well let's go then!" Lily said, adjusting Harry in her arms.

James took hold of Hagrid's hand and was about to apparate when Hagrid said, "Oh, 'n ya'd want ter go to Privet Drive."

"What?" Lily asked, "Why?"

"Cause 'at's where Dumbledore is supposed to be, waiting for me to bring lil' Harry."

Without further delay, James apparated to the said location, Lily following right behind with Harry sniffling into her shoulder due to the odd sensation of being squeezed through a pipe,that comes along with the process of apparition.

0-0-0

Professor McGonagall was standing beside Professor Dumbledore, a worried expression on her face.

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," Dumbledore said.

They heard the crack of someone apparating followed by another immediate crack.

Dumbledore frowned slightly, McGonagall pulling out her wand.

As Hagrid, James and Lily came closer, McGonagall suppressed a shriek of glee but couldn't hold the urge to flung herself at the couple.

Professor Dumbledore laughed as he wiped a few tears and pulled James into a hug.

"Professor Dumbledore," James greeted the old man.

"Oh, James, I have never been this happy to be wrong about something,in my life!"

Lily smiled at the Professor but started frowning slightly.

"Dumbledore? Were you about to leave Harry here?At Petunia's?" She asked hoping that that was not the case.

Dumbledore said that everything could be explained in the safety of Hogwarts as there may still be some of Voldemort's trusted followers around.

He sent a patronus for all the members of the order to be present at the headmaster's office at the school as soon as possible.

Within the hour, everyone were seated around in Dumbledore's office, everyone,but two particular members.

"Sirius!" James groaned as he understood where his best friend had gone, instead of celebrating.

0-0-0

Sirius Black had successfully cornered the rat, who he along with James and Remus had trusted and who he had thought of, not as a best friend, but a brother.

He growled lowly as Pettigrew moved back.

Pettigrew suddenly began wailing, receiving the attention of the curious muggle bystanders.

"Sirius! How could you! James was- James was your friend- he trusted you! How could you betray-"

Sirius was shocked as he understood what Pettigrew was aiming to do.

Before Peter complete what he started, two successive pops occurred and James and Remus appeared beside Sirius.

"Petrificus Totalus," Remus said,pointing his wand at Pettigrew.

"Good thinking, Moony," James praised.

Sirius was surprisingly quite, as he couldn't seem to shake off the shock about Peter trying to blame the betrayal on him.

Ministry officials arrived at the scene and to say that they were shocked at seeing James Potter was an understatement.

They handled the muggles and took Pettigrew into custody, informing James that he might be needed soon at the Ministry to give his statement and for a few quick questions.

James and Remus then held Sirius and apparated into Hogsmede.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:** Sorry about the short chapter but after this, all the chapters are going to be really long and I'll probably update in another 2 days. Also would you like Wolfstar or should I stick with canon?

 **-CHAPTER FOUR-**

"Sirius?" Remus asked, looking at his friend, "Are you alright, mate?"

Sirius nodded faintly and fell on his knees, to the ground.

James and Remus shared a look.

James kneeled down, in front of Sirius who had his hands over his eyes.

"Padfoot," James began softly, "What's wrong?"

Sirius looked at James, "What's wrong? Everything! It's all my fault! The- the three of you could've died! It was all my fault!"

Remus shook his head, "Nobody could've seen this coming, Padfoot. You can't stop what you can't predict. You didn't know that Worm- Pettigrew would go to the dark side-"

"And I suspected Remus!"

Remus looked down, uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I thought that it was you."

"Only," James said looking over at Remus, "You'd be gone for days and no one would know where you were and we were so scared. We should've known that you'd have been the last person to turn on us, but-"

"It's alright, James. Don't worry about it, Sirius. It's done and over with now and we don't have to be bothered by all this anymore.

Just,we'll have to forget about all this and move on."

James nodded, pulling Sirius, "C'mon," he said, "we've got to head back up to the castle. Everyone's probably worried."

The three men started up to the castle .

They knew they would have a lot of work the next day, what with all the death eaters roaming about, ready to attack. But for that night they decided to forget that and celebrate along with the whole of the wizarding world, their darkest days were finally over.

Little Harry Potter was sleeping peacefully in his mother's arms, not knowing that people all over the world were holding up glasses and cheering, "To Harry Potter- the boy-who-lived!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n :** From this chapter on there will be a lot of resemblance to the actual books. I hope that doesn't annoy you, guys.

 **Discalimer: No Copyright intended. This work is entirely non-profitable.**

 **-Chapter Five-**

Mr. and Mrs. Potter of Godric's Hallow were far from saying that they were perfectly normal. was a tall, messy black-haired man who had thin wire-rimmed glasses. Mrs. Potter was comparatively shorter with red hair falling from her shoulders in waves.

Their son, who was currently sleeping up in his room resembled his father but with his mother's piercing green eyes.

Harry, which was the boy's name, had a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Apparently, that was where he had been cursed by the killing curse, 10 years ago on Halloween by a dark wixard, Lord Voldemort.

Harry had a very quiet life and almost no friends if you didn't count their neighbour, Mrs. Bagshot.

Lily and James didn't want to overwhelm the boy with all his fame. They did , however, tell him what had happened and a part of _why_ it had happened.

The boy-who-lived. Harry hated that title. He wasn't someone great who defeated some dark wizard. No, it wasn't him. It was his parents but no one ever pays much attention to all that.

His mum had protected Harry by willing to shield him. She was ready to sacrifice herself for him and that was what had helped him survive the curse. It created a blood-bond,, ancient magic.

His mother would have died, had it not been for his father who literally attacked Voldemort and threw his aim wide.

The only thing that James always regrets, every time he sees Harry's scar is that his son would have died because of him.

The spell, _the killing curse_ , hit Harry and if Lily didn't do what she did, they would have been devastated and would never have forgiven themselves.

It was Harry's eleventh birthday and the boy was dreading the day so much. They were supposed to head for Aunt Petunia's after breakfast. Aunt Petunia was Lily's sister and she knew about magic but he was forbidden to mention anything in her presence.

Harry lay in his bed, looking at the ceiling and weighing his options.

"Harry," Lily called from downstairs.

"You know, we're still going to go even if you keep pouting and brooding, Harry," his father called.

Harry sighed and picked his glasses off his table and made his way downstairs, slowly.

He sat at the dining table next to James who was looking through the Daily Prophet.

"Mum," Harry said softly looking at Lily as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of him.

"Yes?" She replied slowly, knowing what Harry was about to ask.

"It's my birthday. Please,please _please_ can we not go to Aunt Petunia's, please?"

James sniggered and Lily shot him a look that immediately silenced him.

"You've been asking this since I've told about the trip and my answer didn't change and I'm pretty sure it won't. It's only for a few hours, Harry, I'm sure you'll survive."

"But that's it, Mum. I _can't_ survive. I'll- I'll die. And I want to go to Hogwarts and learn magic and if I _die_ , I can't. Mum? _Please_. I'd rather go to Mrs. Bagshot's and listen to her rambling dates and events!"

James started laughing at his son's dramatic explanation and Lily frowned, "You've been spending too much time with Sirius."

James placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked at his son's pouting face, "We'll be going to see animals, Harry, we're going to that place- um, the uh-" he looked at Lily, " the zoo," she said.

"Yeah- there and you wouldn't even need to talk with that lot. Don't worry. A few hours and we'll be home and have a great dinner with uncle Moony and Padfoot."

Lily frowned again, "Maybe spend a little _less_ time with Sirius, though."

Harry widened his eyes, "What! No! I'll behave and I'll come to the zoo and I'll even talk to Dudley for you, you can't make me see less of Padfoot!"

Lily sighed with a smile on her face and told Harry to go and get ready so they could head out.


	6. Chapter 6

**-Chapter Six-**

ACCIDENTAL MAGIC

"But, mum, my owl hasn't arrived yet!" Harry protested as Lily and James began to head outside.

"That's alright, Harry, I'm sure it'll be here by the time we get back," Lily replied pushing Harry towards the door.

"Besides," James said looking at the boy, "this way, you've got something to look forward to."

Harry sighed as he allowed his mother to steer him down the street. Harry was starting to get worried as he was sure that he should have gotten his Hogwarts acceptance letter a long time back but he still hasn't received it.

James huffed, "I can't believe we're using muggle transport, Lily!"

"Well, I thought we'd be unwelcome if we just appeared in their living room."

"Well more than we already are," James said under his breath and Lily shot him a look.

0-0-0

It was a very sunny Wednesday and the zoo was packed with families.

Along with the Dursleys, Dudley's friend, Piers Polkiss was also invited. The two boys kept poking fun at the comparatively smaller boy when the adults were not looking.

Harry, not wanting to seem like a baby, refrained himself from complaining to his parents.

Apart from the fact that the two boys kept bothering Harry when they got bored, Harry had a very good morning despite him not wanting to be there.

Harry felt, afterwards, that he should've known it was all too good to last.

After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls.

Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge,poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.

Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could've wrapped it's body twice around Uncle Vernon's car, in which they arrived here, and crushed it into a dustbin- but at the moment, it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

"Make it move," Dudley whined at his father. Harry and James shared a look of loathing at the two, but quickly controlled themselves before Lily took notice.

Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley demanded. Uncle Vernon repeated the action, to no avail.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned as he shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake.

He felt his father place a hand on his shoulder as he and Lily move to the next tank after Petunia.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. It slowly raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

 _It winked._

Harry stared. Then he looked back at his parents. Lily was talking softly with Petunia who was giving curt replies and James was standing behind Lily, shuffling, uncomfortably.

He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

He learnt about dark creatures, but this was a muggle place. He knew it wasn't going to kill him. He hoped.

"Where do you come from," Harry asked softly.

The snake pointed its tail towards a little sign next to the glass.

 _Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

"Was it nice there?"

The boa jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: _This specimen was bred in the zoo._

"Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, Piers suddenly shouted from behind Harry, "DUDLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT ITS DOING!"

Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.

Caught by surprise, Harry felt hard on the concrete floor.

What came next happened so fast, no one saw how it happened- one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

Harry sat up and gasped.

The boa's glass had vanished and it slithered it's way out of the tank.

Lily came rushing towards Harry, helping him up.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, amid screams, Harry could've sworn he heard a low, hissing voice say, "Brazil, here I come...Thanksss amigo."

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

After things have calmed down a bit, Piers was dropped off, but not before saying, "Harry was talking to that snake, weren't you, Harry?"

It would be fair to say that the Potters would definitely not be welcomed to the Dursleys anytime soon.

James and Harry remained cautiously silent all the way back to Godric's Hallow, fearing Lily's outburst.

To say Lily was seathing would be an understatement.

The three piled into the house, not noticing that they had guests.

The second the door was closed and before the black haired man could make himself noticed, Lily rounded on Harry.

"What were you thinking! Harry, how could you! I'm very disappointed. And all this after we told you so many times to behave yourself!" Harry looked down, keeping his eyes trained on the floor, his lips pursed together.

None of them noticed neither the young man at the sofa, his mouth slightly opened, nor the man with brown hair and scars on his face at the dining table, holding an envelope.

"Come now, Lily," James said, " it was accidental. You know how hard it is to control accidental magic, and besides he could've done something so much worse."

Lily took a deep breath and turned towards the kitchen.

She shrieked as Sirius suddenly shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!"

Remus smiled and shook his head softly.

Sirius smiled at his godson and went to give him a hug.

"Looks like you've got a story to tell," he said pointedly, raising an eyebrow, "I'm all ears!"

By the time Harry was finished, Sirius was howling with laughter and Lily managed a small smile as well.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Remus said after Sirius was finished laughing.

"Before we forget," Sirius said, moving towards Remus, "you've got mail." He handed Harry the thick envelope with a purple seal.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as he tore the envelope open.

James looked over at Lily, "looks like we have some shopping to do.


End file.
